Here, from The Associated Press, is the complete text of the Libyan leader’s latest letter (with unusual English spellings and grammar as in the original):
We have been hurt more morally that physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you. Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the U.S.A. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne. You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action. I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that. Enough evidence is available, Bearing in mind that you are the president of the strongest power in the world nowadays, and since Nato is waging an unjust war against a small people of a developing country. This country had already been subjected to embargo and sanctions, furthermore it also suffered a direct military armed aggression during Reagan’s time. This country is Libya. Hence, to serving world peace … Friendship between our peoples … and for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato off the Libyan affair for good.
As you know too well democracy and building of civil society cannot be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft, or by backing armed member of AlQuaeda in Benghazi.
You — yourself — said on many occasions, one of them in the UN General Assembly, I was witness to that personally, that America is not responsible for the security of other peoples. That America helps only. This is the right logic.
Our dear son, Excellency, Baraka Hussein Abu oumama, your intervention is the name of the U.S.A. is a must, so that Nato would withdraw finally from the Libyan affair. Libya should be left to Libyans within the African union frame. The problem now stands as follows:-
1. There is Nato intervention politically as well as military.
2. Terror conducted by AlQaueda gangs that have been armed in some cities, and by force refused to allow people to go back to their normal life, and carry on with exercising their social people’s power as usual.
Video of a Webcast by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to an American audience in April, 2010, in which he praised President Barack Obama as a “son” of Africa.
In a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi called for an end to airstrikes on his forces and addressed the American leader as “our son,” apparently referring to Mr. Obama’s African heritage.
Colonel Qaddafi also assured Mr. Obama that he has not taken the American military action personally, and even endorsed his campaign for reelection in 2012.
As White House Press Secretary Jay Carney reminded reporters on Wednesday, the letter was “not the first,” from the Libyan leader to the American president. In a previous letter sent on March 19, just before the first international airstrikes, Colonel Qaddafi assured Mr. Obama that “even if Libya and the United States enter into war, God forbid, you will always remain my son.”
Colonel Qaddafi also referred to Mr. Obama as “a son” of Africa in a Webcast to an American audience in 2010 (embedded above). _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Germany ready to help in a Humanitarian Aid effort.
Google translation
Quote:
Also, the designated FDP chairman Philip Roesler said it a role in relief efforts in favor. On the military operations they had not participated for good reason. But now if the EU was planning a humanitarian action, "then we must be there. This is rightly expected of Germany," he told the Bild newspaper.
Former top Germany spy in talks with Qadhafi regime: weekly
Berlin, April 9, IRNA -- The former secret service coordinator of the German government, Bernd Schmidbauer has been meeting with high-level representatives of Libyan dictator Colonel Moammar Qadhafi in Tripoli, the news magazine Focus said in a report on Saturday.
Qadhafi and his son Saif al-Islam have reportedly told Schmidbauer that they would be ready to agree to an immediate ceasefire supervised by the UN and the African Union.
Schmidbauer stressed that Colonel Qadhafi would under 'no circumstances leave his country.'
The Libyan regime is also currently preparing a new constitution for the country,
according to Schmidbauer who was directing Germany's intelligence agencies under then-chancellor Helmut Kohl.
A German foreign ministry spokeswoman made clear that the 71-year-old
Schmidbauer who has in the past successfully mediated other crises in the Middle East and North Africa, had not been acting on behalf of the German government.
OT**1416
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30330887 _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Libyan Rebels from Feb 17 armed coup attempt to overthrow Libya Government had Brand New Weapons from the first day of the Uprising. These weapons were of non-Libya origin and had already been secretly imported into Libya in advance of Feb 17. These are millions of dollars of brand new light and heavy weaponry that is advanced technical stutff.
What we see here is that there are Secret foreign benefactors giving State of the Art Weapons to Benghazi Terror Gangs in the Coup Attempt and the Video even shows White Western Trainers showing them how to use the weapons against the Libyan Army.
This whole phony uprising stinks to "high hell" as a CIA Mi6 French Intelligence type of "Bay of Pigs" type of "sequel". The Benghazi terrorist Libyan Rebels from the Feb 17 uprising appear to be paid mercenaries and Libyan expatriates mixed in with naive students and Al Qaeda veteran foreign fighters who each hope that they will come out on top.
Gaddafi and the Libyan people know that the Rebels are Traitors and Terrorists and Expatriate Libyans on CIA and Mi6 payroll who have been sent back and infiltrated into Libya as part of this Coup attempt against the Libya Government of Col Muammar Al Gaddafi, the Brotherly Leader.
Gaddafi and the Libya Army are going to crush and kill without mercy all of these armed foreign Mercenaries and agents and will Humiliate the United States, France and Britain before the eyes of the world.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Cameron reveals his card and adopts 'regime change'.
Soon boots will be on the ground in a... 3rd war.
Then a fourth may be on the cards with Israel and Turkey. This will be long hot summer in the Meditterenean.
As the US is losing its role as the 'global reserve currency' and it has nothing with which to replace it, it requires energy as a substitute. Arab oil is now under the target.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18032 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:22 pm Post subject:
Rather horrified earlier this month at the NUJ Southport Delegate Meeting to see Paul Breeden & Christina Zaba, both Bristol NUJ branch delegates proposing or seconding an emergency motion SUPPORTING this military action against the Libyan government.
Both the main cases against Libya in the UK. Lockerbie and the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher have been shown to be nothing to do with the Libyan government in Dispatches documentaries:
The Maltese Double Cross on Lockerbie and
Murder In St James's on Yvonne Fletcher
When War Games Go Live: "Staging" a "Humanitarian War" against "SOUTHLAND"
Under an Imaginary UN Security Council Resolution 3003
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - Global Research, April 16, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24351
Military operations of this size and magnitude are never improvised. The war on Libya as well as the armed insurrection were planned months prior to the Arab protest movement...
Libya, 19 March 2011. "No Fly Zone" under UN Security Council Resolution 1973: A "Humanitarian War" is Launched.
We were led to believe that the protest movement in Egypt and Tunisia had spread to Libya.
The insurrection in Libya was presented as a spontaneous response to a wave of pro-democracy activism which had swept the Arab World.
In turn, we were led to believe that "the international community" decided in response to these unfolding events, to "protect the lives of civilians" and refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
The media then reported that it was only once the UN Security Council had adopted Resolution 1973, that the US and NATO member countries took the decision to intervene militarily in Libya under the "No Fly Zone"...
THE WAR ON LIBYA WAS KNOWN AND DECIDED WELL IN ADVANCE.
MILITARY PLANNING WAS IN "AN ADVANCED STAGE OF READINESS".
UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1973 PERTAINING TO LIBYA WAS ALREADY ON THE DRAWING BOARD, MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF THE "PRO-DEMOCRACY" INSURRECTION IN EASTERN LIBYA. ...
Read carefully [" " indicate quotation from "The Southern Mistral 2011" War Games, Scenario)]
On November 02 2010, more than four months prior to the onset of Operation Odyssey Dawn, France and the UK announced the conduct of war games under Operation "SOUTHERN MISTRAL 2011" against "AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY' called "SOUTHLAND", living under a "DICTATORSHIP" which allegedly "was responsible for an attack against France's national interests".
The Franco-British (humanitarian) air operation against "SOUTHLAND" was to be carried out pursuant to an IMAGINARY "UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO: 3003".
The war games were scheduled to start on March 21, 2011. THESE FRANCO-BRITISH WAR GAMES NEVER TOOK PLACE. OPERATION "SOUTHERN MISTRAL" WENT LIVE ON MARCH 19, 2011 (two days prior to the scheduled date).
Below is the exact quote and colors from the Franco-British war games website which is hosted by France's Air Force:
"SOUTHLAND : Dictatorship responsible for an attack against France's national interests.
FRANCE : Makes the decision to show its determination to SOUTHLAND (under United Nations Security council resolution n°3003).
UNITED-KINGDOM : Allied country as determined in the bilateral agreement. The United Kingdom supports France through the deployment of its air assets." (Commandement de la défense aérienne et des opérations aériennes, Southern Mistral 2011: Scenario) ......
I am a Canadian citizen writing to you with great concern for the current state of my country.
A week before our Parliament was dissolved for the upcoming federal election, our Government committed itself militarily to enforce a No-Fly Zone in the North African state of Libya on the basis of humanitarian intervention. This is an incredibly important issue of Canadian foreign policy and it is the responsibility every single political party that is participating in the current federal election to clearly state their stance on this issue.
If in fact your political party is intending to support the military intervention in Libya, the following is a list of information on this conflict that - as my potential political representative to the Canadian Federal Government - you should seriously consider informing your party with.
Col. Muammar Qaddafi is being demonized as a dictator, a tyrant, and a mass murderer. Canadians are being told that it is for the sake of protecting innocent civilians from the Qaddafi government that we are involved in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya. A brief historical background on Libyan government - and the rebels we are supporting - clearly demonstrates how flawed this argument is.
· In 1969, Muammar Qaddafi led a bloodless coup to overthrow King Idris I, a monarch imposed by the British after WWII. At the time, Libya was the poorest country in the entire world; with a literacy rate below 10%. Since then, the Libyan government has improved all aspects of their society.
· Libya now has a literacy rate above 90%.
· Libya has the lowest infant mortality rate of all of Africa.
· Libya also has the highest life expectancy of all of Africa.
· Less than 5% of the population was undernourished. In response to the rising food prices around the world, the government of Libya abolished ALL taxes on food.
· Libya has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita of all of Africa.
· Libya has the highest Human Development Index of any country on the continent.
· In Libya, a lower percentage of people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands, and again, far lower than that of the United States.
· They have free health care and treatment, and education is free of charge. Talented youth have an opportunity to study abroad at the expense of the Libyan government.
· Before the chaos erupted, Libya had a lower incarceration rate than the Czech Republic, and far lower than the United States.
· The core legal obligation expressed in article 2(7) of the UN Charter prohibits member states from any use of force unless it can be justified as self-defence after a cross-border armed attack; unless expressly authorized by the Security Council as essential for the sake of international peace and security. With respect to Libya, you need to take account of the fact that the Qaddafi government remains the lawful diplomatic representative of a sovereign state, and any international use of force even by the UN, much less a state or group of states, would constitute an unlawful intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. This also implies that the Security Council’s decision - to allow foreign states to bomb Libya - is legal if, and only if, the outcome of this conflict represents a serious threat to international peace. Also UN Resolution 1970 (2011) forbids the delivery of weaponry of any sort to any citizen in Libya. UN Resolution 1973 (2011) while allowing the use of force to protect "civilians" does not mention attacking conventional ground forces not engaged in battle to help "rebels" nor does it bear any mention whatsoever of aiding rebellious forces to gain power.
· Libya is the only country currently experiencing civil unrest that our Government has deemed important enough to support militarily. The day after the Security Council vote, March 18, armed forces of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government in Yemen carried out a massacre. The massacre took place in broad daylight at the central square in Sana'a, Yemen’s capital. At least 52 people were killed and more than 200 wounded, most by snipers firing from atop government buildings. Hilary Clinton stated: “The U.S. government “is alarmed by today's violence in Sana'a against anti-government protesters and is seeking to verify reports that this is the result of actions by security forces...We call on Yemeni security forces to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from violence, and permit citizens to freely and peacefully express their views." There are currently no calls from Washington for a U.N.-imposed “no-fly zone,” or the bombing of Saleh’s military. Not even a whisper from Washington about sanctions. On the contrary, U.S. military and other aid has continued to flow unimpeded to Saleh and his army. On March 16, the government of Bahrain, with the assistance of 2,000 invading Saudi troops and hundreds of United Arab Emirates security forces, dispersed the mass protests in the capital Manama and elsewhere. As in the case of Yemen, no threats of military intervention, sanctions or anything at all in the face of a blatant invasion and brutal repression. More than 20 Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds wounded, out of a total population of just over a million, over the past month.
· Another important aspect of this conflict often ignored in Canadian media is the role being played by the rebel groups of Eastern Libya. If the conditions in Libya prior to this armed insurrection were so favorable, then where did this uprising coming from? The answer is that the same groups the US and Great Britain have been funding for decades are now taking their chance to gain control over the nation.
· The rebels of Eastern Libya are represented by several different organizations: The National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL); The Islamic Emirate of Berka; The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO); The Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya, or the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG); and the Transitional National Council (TNC). The first group calling itself “Islamic Emirate of Berka”, the former name of the North-Western part of Libya, took numerous hostages, and killed two policemen as reported by western media a few days after protests began. On Friday, the 18th of February - the day after the revolt began - the group stole 70 military vehicles after attacking a port and killing four soldiers. All the worthy democratic aspirations of the Libyan youth movement notwithstanding, the most organized opposition group happens to be the National Front for the Salvation of Libya - financed for years by the House of Saud, the CIA and French intelligence. The key figure in the National Front for the Salvation of Libya is one Ibrahim Sahad who conveniently enough lives in Washington. According to the Library of Congress archives, Sahad is the same man the CIA used in their failed attempt at a Libyan coup of 1984. The Library of Congress confirms that the CIA trained and supported the NFSL both before and after the failed coup. It was this organization that called for the “Day of Rage” that plunged Libya into chaos on February 17 of this year. The rebel "Transitional National Council" is little else than the National Front, plus a few military defectors. This is the elite of the "innocent civilians" the "coalition" is "protecting". The UK based National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO) - is well known to be a CIA and MI5 supported and trained organization of anti-Kaddafi and counter-revolutionary Libyans.
As several documents have discovered, by far the most violent of the opposition groups is the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. The first is a secret cable to the State Department from the US embassy in Tripoli in 2008, part of the WikiLeaks trove, entitled, “Extremism in Eastern Libya,” which revealed that this area is rife with anti-American, pro-jihad sentiment.
The second document, or rather set of documents, are the so-called Sinjar Records, captured al-Qaeda documents that fell into American hands in 2007. They were analyzed by the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point. Al-Qaeda is a bureaucratic outfit and the records contain precise details on personnel, including those who came to Iraq to fight American and coalition forces and, when necessary, commit suicide.
The West Point analysts’ statistical study of the al-Qaeda personnel records concludes that one country provided “far more” foreign fighters in per capita terms than any other: namely, Libya.”
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group mounted a major challenge to the Qaddafi regime in the 1990s. The destabilizing impact of that challenge was a major factor in the decision of the Qaddafi regime to abandon its traditional anti-imperialist rhetoric and seek an accommodation with Europe and the United States. Anas al Liby is a notable member of the LIFG. He remains on the U.S. government’s most wanted list, with a reward of $5 million for his capture, and is wanted for his involvement in the U.S. African embassy bombings. Al Liby was with bin Laden in Sudan before the al Qaeda leader returned to Afghanistan in 1996. Despite being a high-level al Qaeda operative, al Liby was granted political asylum in Britain and lived in Manchester until May of 2000. In 2009, to mark Qaddafi's 40 years in power, the LIFG apologized for trying to kill him and agreed to lay down its arms. Six LIFG leaders, still in prison, disavowed their old ways and explained why fighting Qaddafi no longer constituted "legitimate" jihad. The last 110 members of the LIFG were freed on 16 February; the day after the Libyan uprising began. One of those released, Abdul Wahab Mohammed Kayed, is the brother of Abu Yahya Al Libi, one of al Qaida's top propagandists.
There is an abundance of evidence proving that our Government is supporting religious extremists including Al Qaeda, and other rebels who are fighting against NATO troops in Afghanistan. In fact, Muammar Qaddafi and the Libyan revolutionary forces were the first to issue an arrest warrant for Osama bin Laden. The Libyan government spent years warning the world about the very serious threat posed by these Islamic deviants. According to former MI5 intelligence operative David Shayler, western intelligence turned a deaf ear to Libya's warnings because they were actually working with the al Qaeda group inside Libya to bring down Qaddafi and the Libyan revolution.
"Uranium tipped missiles fit the description of a dirty bomb in every way. I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people."
Marion Falk, retired chemical physicist
at Lawrence Livermore Lab, California, USA.
· Since the March 18th, coalition forces have bombed Libya with at least 221 Tomahawk missiles killing at least 100 civilians. These massive bombs, along with the Cruise missiles launched from both planes and ships, all contained depleted uranium (DU) warheads. DU is the waste product from the process of enriching uranium ore. When a weapon made with a DU tip strikes a solid object like the side of a tank, it goes straight through it, and then erupts in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is not only poisonous, but also radioactive. Internalized DU can cause kidney damage, cancers of the lung and bone, skin disorders, neuro-cognitive disorders, chromosome damage, immune deficiency syndromes and rare kidney and bowel diseases. Pregnant women exposed to DU may give birth to infants with genetic defects. Once the dust has vaporized, its effects are very long-term. As an alpha particle emitter, DU has a half life of 4.5 billion years.
There is overwhelming evidence proving Canada’s current military involvement in Libya is supportive of both the most radical elements of Al-Qaeda, and the removal of a sovereign Government that is only legal according to International Law if it represents a legitimate threat to international peace and security.
As such, Canadian citizens have been told since 9/11 that the enemies of peace and democracy are religious extremists who will stop at nothing to destroy Western Civilization. The Canadian Government claims to be doing everything it can to protect us from external threats; yet they are supporting the exact organizations in Libya that we are supposedly needed to be defended from. In this context, we are actually further endangering Canadian lives by supporting a military intervention in Libya.
The Libyan Government is not a totalitarian dictatorship. If your political party supports the military intervention in Libya, you are supporting illegal interference in the healthiest, richest, most egalitarian state in all of Africa.
By supporting the military intervention of Libya, your political party is claiming selectively that certain countries are more important than others to receive Canada’s assistance. If Canada was truly concerned with saving civilian lives, our Government would press for resolutions protecting the citizens of Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and elsewhere where civilians are being systematically murdered by their governments.
If your political party supports the military intervention in Libya, you are supporting an act of war that is illegal according to international law. You are therefore supporting the destabilization of our entire global order.
If your political party supports a Canadian military intervention in Libya, you are directly supporting Al-Qaeda and other extremist religious groups that our Government claims to be protecting us from. You are NOT supporting a peaceful protest movement; you are supporting an illegal armed insurrection. Canadian support of this mission is a direct threat to the safety of every single Canadian citizen.
As an informed citizen of Canada, I plead to you – and your political party – to strongly oppose any interference in a sovereign nation that poses no threat to World peace.
Global Research Articles by Ian Hunter _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Sannheten om Libya
219. april 2011by Tony Holm
[Translate]
Over the last few months, the Western world has a new enemy, Iran has got a small break and the pitch is a rather unknown country, Libya, entered the picture. We get one-sided information from the media and politicians about the tyrant Muammar Gadaffi, the dictator who oppresses the people and that does not give the country a western democratic model.
But Gadaffi's really a person who oppresses the people and that must be removed?
Facts about Libya
Libya is a country in North Africa and has approx. 5.7 million inhabitants. The main state called Tripoli.
Libya is the 17th largest country in the world in the area.
Libya chaired by Muhammet Gaddafi took power in a coup d'état 1 sept. 1969
No evidence of abuse against the civilian population from Gaddafi
The report activist group British civilians for peace in Libya in its interim report, the group of 13 members, under the leadership of the socialist politician Dave Roberts, has recently completed a week's tour of Tripoli and other towns in western Libya, according to vg and Sky News .
Libya has given the United Nations in the neck, and the sanctions stem from the reported atrocities against the Libyan people during the demonstrations that began in February this year. Libya on the other hand, requires an independent investigation of the allegations, but has not received any reply to their inquiries, including to England.
Dave Roberts also comes with harsh criticism of Western media, which he believes has not followed the essence of the matter objectively and come up with only subjective information with one-sided criticism of Libya and Gaddafi in particular.
Truth hour and Libya
What exactly is the real truth about Libya under Gaddafi's rule? When Gaddafi took power in 1969 was Libya's oil profits unilaterally placed in the oil companies.Gaddafi in turn selected to ensure that oil revenues were in favor of the libyanske population. The oil companies were nationalized and the proceeds were used to build up the country, education and healthcare were the highest priority.
Answers for today's population in Libya are:
- They have approx. 5% unemployment (less than Jens brag about here in Norway)
- Only 5% of the population is considered poor (most of them have houses and cars)
- Libya has the highest gross national product in Africa
- Libya has free healthcare and free schooling for all
- Life expectancy in Libya is 75 years, which is 10% above world average
- Libya has the lowest oil prices, 1 a barrel, as opposed to the current price of $ 115
- Last year gave Gaddafi $ 500 to each person in Libya (all 5.7 million)
- Illiteracy was a widespread phenomenon in Libya when Gaddafi took over is as good as gone in today's society libyanske
Public Central Bank and the dream of a common African currency
Libya's central bank is controlled by the Libyan government.Bank loans are issued and controlled by the libyanske government and is not directed to Western (private) banks make, model, fractional reserve banking that many people know. In addition, Gaddafi had a big dream for a pan-African kingdom, with a common currency, common army, common laws, etc. similar to what the EU is today.
9. July 2002, the African Union was established, the Union's highest leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Union aims to achieve a common central bank and hopefully a common currency (the Afro) by 2023. Today, there are the African Union, the European Union and Central Asian Union, the dream of an American Union (USA, Canada and Mexico - with the Amero as currency) are already under development, there have also been many meetings on an Asian Union (Pacific Union ). The question here is whether the power in the Western world has no power over Gaddafi at all to be able to get some influence on the African Union and Libya's management.
When Norway interfered
Norwegian politicians with Jonas Gahr in the lead all the way have supported the unilateral interpretation of Libya conflict. 19. March this year the Norwegian government decided to send six fighter planes in the fight against Gaddafi.No, wait. It was never decided in the Parliament to send combat aircraft to Libya, now it has emerged that Gahr took decisions over mobile phone calls. He called Jensen, Erna Solberg, Trine Skei Grande and Dagfinn Høybråten to tell the government during the night had decided to send Norwegian fighter planes to Libya. After several phone calls were all to agree to agree ( according vg )
If you have not yet understood that Norwegian policy (Western policy to be honest) is a farce? Jonas Gahr decides spontaneously to the mobile phone for Norway to interfere in a war, without any thoughts of consequences or foundation. Several key politicians react today on the decision to Gahr, but what does it help? How many civilians are killed with Norway's fighter planes I wonder? The fight for a " democratic "world continues.
What's behind the fight against Gaddafi?
There is never one reason that wars and political decisions are taken, there are always several reasons. One thing can be certain is that nothing in politics happens by accident (Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the reasons behind the fight against Gaddafi's flerarmet.
First, we must look at the oil nation Libya. The oil industry is powerful no doubt that Libya can sell oil for $ 1 a barrel to the price of 115 dollars have a cause. Oil is often a major influence reason why wars are started. Libya was well placed inside the "axis of evil". Together with Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya and Cuba are part of America's enemies and have the opportunity get their resistance. Do you see any konjukturer between the lines here? Are not all the countries on this list of victims of one-sided hateful propaganda in the media? Iraq, they have taken, Iran and North Korea have steadily increased oppmnerksomhet in recent years and now have Syria and Libya have entered the field. The media is unbiased? Norwegian politicians are part of the world community or the Anglo-American society?
That in addition Gaddafi has been a strong proponent of Zion to explain Appears protocols also have their cause. Like Idi Amin, as we have explained was the largest since the monster Hitler, as advocates protocol Gaddafi's reality, and one thing is clear, go to the side of the world so you get the world community against you. Although people in the western world do not think propaganda is present then there is nothing else than our naive faith in our good world.
Libya is a country that has not run out of power after the West seams. On the contrary, it has Gaddafi seen through the lines of the dishonest political game in the West, which he has expressed in his many speeches and not least in his book: Gaddafi's little green book. Gaddafi's Libya has built up after a working model of nationalist (though he is a socialist, this means that he is a national socialist?) And the civilian population in Libya has been an incredible increase in quality of life after Gaddafi has been at the helm for almost 42 years. The war against Libya have many similarities such as similar models because Gaddafi as several other state leaders are a threat to the established western empire we live in today.
Sources:
Libya (wikipedia)
-No evidence of abuse by Gaddafi
Minister took Libya's decision over the phone
The truth about Libya
Gadhafi's dying dream of African unity
The Real Libya Hated by the World Elite
Gaddafi now king and president of Africa
Tag: African Union
Central Asian Union (wikipedia) _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Many share the opinion that Washington is pursuing a larger goal than just regime change across the Arab world. RT crosses live to Brazil to speak to Asia Times correspondent - Pepe Escobar - about the role some countries are playing in the uprisings.
RT on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
RT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RT_com _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
excerpts from: Foreign Secretary announces assistance to the National Transitional Council in Libya
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, 19 April 2011
“We regard the National Transitional Council [in Libya] as legitimate political interlocutors for the UK. The National Security Council [National Transitional Council] has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the [British] team already in Benghazi led by [senior diplomat] Christopher Prentice to include an additional military liaison advisory team.
This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers. [...] In particular they will advise the NTC [National Transitional Council] on how to improve their military organisational structures, communications and logistics. [...]
This deployment is fully within the terms of UNSCR [UN Security Council resolution] 1973 both in respect of civilian protection and its provision expressly ruling out a foreign occupation force on Libyan soil. Consistent with our obligations under that Resolution, our officers will not be involved in training or arming the [Libyan] opposition’s fighting forces. Nor will they be involved in the planning or execution of the NTC’s military operations or in the provision of any other form of operational military advice.”
Murnaghan talks the Prime Minister, David Cameron, about the AV referendum, Libya and health reforms
Sky News, 17 April 2011
Murnaghan: [...] I say a year into the coalition, a year on, it’s almost like we’ve rewound in some aspects to 2003 in that we have a British Prime Minister, a US President and indeed others, talking about regime change in an oil rich Muslim country without full international legal cover.
Cameron: Well I would say there are many, many differences. First of all we have had two United Nations Resolutions about Libya and the second one specifically enabled us to do what we’re doing, put in place a no fly zone, put in place attack sorties to stop Colonel Gaddafi from murdering his own people. [...]
Murnaghan: Sorry to interrupt Prime Minister, but nothing about regime change and getting rid of Colonel Gaddafi in those resolutions, nothing about removing Colonel Gaddafi. [...]
Cameron: That is right, the resolutions are about protecting civilians and enforcing a no fly zone and that is what we are doing but separately and politically, I think almost every political leader in the world bar about three have said that the future for Libya must be a future without Gaddafi. [...]
Murnaghan: Well it’s said, and I’m sure you’ve looked at it, that there is some wriggle room in that UN Resolution 1973 when it comes to forces on the ground there, that it talks about no occupation force but clearly looking towards Colonel Gaddafi. If it took ground forces, can you guarantee there would be no British ground forces employed?
Cameron: What we’ve said is there is no question of an invasion or an occupation, this is not about Britain putting boots on the ground, this is not what we are about here. What we’re doing is enforcing the [UN] resolution [...]
Murnaghan: [...] Could it ultimately lead to some form of on the ground invasion force – it doesn’t stay there, it’s not an occupation force but to fulfil the Resolution 1973 to protect those civilians, do you have to go further here militarily? [...]
Cameron: [...] [I]n a way, Dermot, you’re right, it’s because we’ve said we’re not going to invade, we’re not going to occupy this is more difficult in many ways because we can’t fully determine the outcome with what we have available but we’re very clear, we must stick to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution [...]
Murnaghan: So you are categorically ruling out putting any form of British troops, British forces, on the ground in the Libya?
Cameron: What I’ve said is there is no occupying force, no invasion, that is absolutely clear, that hasn’t changed right from the start, I said that and the position hasn’t changed.
Murnaghan: But it could be temporary?
Cameron: Dermot, I think I’ve answered the question and I’ve said this many times, there’s no change in our position. We are complying with the UN Security Council Resolution, we’re not occupying, we’re not invading, that’s not what we’re about and that is obviously a restriction on us but I think it’s the right restriction.
The bombing continues until Gaddafi goes
The Libyan leader will make his country a pariah state. To leave him in power would be an unconscionable betrayal (*)
Joint article by David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy,
published simultaneously in The Times, The International Herald Tribune, Le Figaro and al-Hayat on 15 April 2011
Number10.gov.uk (the official website of the UK Prime Minister’s Office), 15 April 2011
“Our duty and our mandate under UN Security Council Resolution 1973 is to protect civilians, and we are doing that. It is not to remove Gaddafi by force. But it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power. [..] It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government. [...] It would be an unconscionable betrayal.
Furthermore, it would condemn Libya to being not only a pariah state, but a failed state too. Gaddafi has promised to carry out terrorist attacks against civilian ships and airliners. And because he has lost the consent of his people any deal that leaves him in power would lead to further chaos and lawlessness. We know from bitter experience what that would mean. Neither Europe, the region nor the world can afford a new safe haven for extremists. [...]
[S]o long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds.”
(*) title of The Times’ print edition.
______________________________________________
related articles:
Intensified bombing, military “advisers” on the ground
Britain and France escalate war in Libya
by Patrick Martin, World Socialist Web Site, 20 April 2011
Meanwhile, Libya - an Arab nation inspired by Egypt's example - is struggling to overthrow Gaddafi's regime after two months of fighting. NATO allies have announced plans to send military advisers to the rebels' headquarters to help the opposition break the stalemate with pro-government forces. Russia's foreign minister has warned that putting international bodies on the ground could have unpredictable consequences.
Libyan rebels armed with heavy weaponry are moving further west from their base in Benghazi towards the capital. Reports suggest over 10 thousand people have died since the uprising began in February. France has promised to intensify NATO-led air strikes to weaken Gaddafi's offensive. Anti-war activist Brian Becker told RT the escalation of force by the allies could eventually lead to a full-scale invasion.
Mission Creep: 'Libya means of reasserting control over Africa'
Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition joins RT to discuss the latest NATO actions in Libya _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 6028 Location: East London
Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:15 pm Post subject:
Useful to compare the Libya and Ivory Coast situations with Suez (as well, of course, with Afghanistan and Iraq); BBC program on Suez (you'll have to follow up the first episode, as it's U-tube and comes in segments):
Britain and France (and Israel!) co-operating in 'regime change' scenario.
The BBC 'used' to put out good programmes (as they did with 'Dead in the Water). _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Recollections Of My Life - Mu'ummar Qaddafi
By Col. Mu'ummar Qaddafi; Translated by Professor Sam Hamod, Ph.D.
April 8, 201:
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful..
For 40 years, or was it longer,I can't remember, I did all I could to give people houses, hospitals, schools, and when they were hungry, I gave them food, I even made Benghazi into farmland from the desert, I stood up to attacks from that cowboy Reagan, when he killed my adopted orphaned daughter, he was trying to kill me, instead he killed that poor innocent child, then I helped my brothers and sisters from Africa with money for the African Union, did all I could to help people understand the concept of real democracy, where people's committees ran our country, but that was never enough, as some told me, even people who had 10 room homes, new suits and furniture, were never satisfied, as selfish as they were they wanted more, and they told Americans and other visitors, they needed "democracy," and "freedom," never realizing it was a cut throat system, where the biggest dog eats the rest, but they were enchanted with those words, never realizing that in America, there was no free medicine, no free hospitals, no free housing, no free education and no free food, except when people had to beg or go to long lines to get soup, no, no matter what I did, it was never enough for some, but for others, they knew I was the son of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the only true Arab and Muslim leader we've had since Salah' a' Deen, when he claimed the Suez Canal for his people, as I claimed Libya, for my people, it was his footsteps I tried to follow, to keep my people free from colonial domination—from thieves who would steal from us—
Now, I am under attack by the biggest force in military history, my little African son, Obama wants to kill me, to take away the freedom of our country, to take away our free housing, our free medicine, our free education, our free food, and replace it with American style thievery, called "capitalism," but all of us in the Third World know what that means, it means corporations run the countries, run the world, and the people suffer, so, there is no alternative for me, I must make my stand, and if Allah wishes, I shall die by following his path, the path that has made our country rich with farmland, with food and health, and even allowed us to help our African and Arab brothers and sisters to work here with us, in the Libyan Jammohouriyah,
I do not wish to die, but if it comes to that, to save this land, my people, all the thousands who are all my children, then so be it.
Let this testament be my voice to the world, that I stood up to crusader attacks of NATO, stood up to cruelty, stood up to betrayal, stood up the West and its colonialist ambitions, and that I stood with my African brothers, my true Arab and Muslim brothers, as a beacon of light, when others were building castles, I lived in a modest house, and in a tent, I never forgot my youth in Sirte, I did not spend our national treasury foolishly, and like Salah'a'deen, our great Muslim leader, who rescued Jerusalem for Islam, I took little for myself…
In the West, some have called me "mad," "crazy," but they know the truth but continue to lie, they know that our land is independent and free, not in the colonial grip, that my vision, my path, is, and has been clear and for my people and that I will fight to my last breath to keep us free, may Allah almighty help us to remain faithful and free.”
I have to draw attention to the pathetic situation regarding our brand new RAF Typhoon aircraft, some of which are now grounded due to lack of spare parts! It is also reported that the role for this aircraft has been wrongly designed. As we know the Tornado aircraft is on the retirement list but they have not considered a replacement. The Typhoon was designed for Combat Air Patrol (CAP) or Air to Air combat with the ability to carry out light ground attack functions. Now we see panic measure in the operation field to modify these aircraft to carry out a more substantial ground attack role for which it is not designed (which I might add can never replace the Tornado)……..such is the state of our pathetic government that is run by people who’s head it well and truly out of this world.
Before closing I am appauled at the level of propaganda handed out by the US, US and EU media…….it is so well orchestrated and only focuses on this so called evil onslaught by Gadaffi forces. Today we see the Medias introduction in the use of fragmentation bomblets in area of high population. Why was this same pressure not applied to US, UK and NATO forces who have used these munitions time and time again in all the other areas of conflict? Why did the world’s media not show the over excessive use of these weapons by the IDF on Lebanon that were supplied by the US or the weapons that blasted the tiny hamlet of Gaza with WMD’s that were also supplied by the US and why now the main line media talk about these small cluster bombs in Libya as being against the Geneva convention but say nothing about the WMD’ weapons currently being dropped in Libya by the US, UK and France. Don’t you the public fully understand that they are “Nuking” Libya and indiscriminately spreading their radioactive nanoparticles all over North Africa, the Mediterranean Region, EU and the world beyond? The current media coverage is not only pathetic it is a disgrace to the protocol of good journalism…….no doubt the dear Pro Istraeli owner of the media, Rupert Murdoch has his own agenda in this “Geo Politics.” world
It is also clear that the “New World Order’s Master Plan” is to diminish our own forces (that protect our sovereign state) and to make us totally dependant on NATO…..the highly skilled SBS, SAS and other crack units are already under the control of the French! It is only a matter of time before we will also loose the ability to call ourselves English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish as we become the United State of Europe with maybe that prime war criminal at the helm called Tony Blair who is still hoping for the crown of the EU Presidency!!
Please understand that there is no Al Queda, there is no threat to the streets of New York or the streets of London. There is no rebellion in Libya and there is no genuine rebel army…….this is all a well orchestrated Special Forces/CIA/MI5/Mossad operation to destabilise current Islamic Nations and the entire Middle East by create a Dial an Army or Dial a Crowd operation to make it look authentic. I have never in my life seen such a poor attempt by these so called Intelligence? Services to play out all these incredible acts of pure fantasy……you can even see some of the players with their false hair or beards sitting next to the driver in a rebel vehicle and clearly show they are pure white with a little make up here and there…….come on world wake up!!!!! Now you can see Syria starting to stir up with the same play acting that would put William Shakespeare to shame!!
I want you all to again read my article that highlighted the US,UK and EU intentions of taking over 7 countries in a period of between 5 – 10 years before the next super power takes over (US and UK Governments extend their talons over Libya – Part 16) which you can see on the following link:
This page is frozen
This website is currently not available. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18032 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:33 pm Post subject:
Financial Heist of the Century: Confiscating Libya's Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF)
by Manlio Dinucci - Global Research, April 24, 2011
Il Manifesto (translated from Italian) - 2011-04-22
The objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters. In the crosshairs of "willing" of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) manages sovereign wealth funds estimated at about $70 billion U.S., rising to more than $150 billion if you include foreign investments of the Central Bank and other bodies. But it might be more. Even if they are lower than those of Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, Libyan sovereign wealth funds have been characterized by their rapid growth. When LIA was established in 2006, it had $40 billion at its disposal. In just five years, LIA has invested over one hundred companies in North Africa, Asia, Europe, the U.S. and South America: holding, banking, real estate, industries, oil companies and others.
In Italy, the main Libyan investments are those in UniCredit Bank (of which LIA and the Libyan Central Bank hold 7.5 percent), Finmeccanica (2 percent) and ENI (1 percent), these and other investments (including 7.5 percent of the Juventus Football Club) have a significance not as much economically (they amount to some $5.4 billion) as politically.
Libya, after Washington removed it from the blacklist of “rogue states,” has sought to carve out a space at the international level focusing on "diplomacy of sovereign wealth funds." Once the U.S. and the EU lifted the embargo in 2004 and the big oil companies returned to the country, Tripoli was able to maintain a trade surplus of about $30 billion per year which was used largely to make foreign investments. The management of sovereign funds has however created a new mechanism of power and corruption in the hands of ministers and senior officials, which probably in part escaped the control of the Gadhafi himself: This is confirmed by the fact that, in 2009, he proposed that the 30 billion in oil revenues go "directly to the Libyan people." This aggravated the fractures within the Libyan government.
U.S. and European ruling circles focused on these funds, so that before carrying out a military attack on Libya to get their hands on its energy wealth, they took over the Libyan sovereign wealth funds. Facilitating this operation is the representative of the Libyan Investment Authority, Mohamed Layas himself: as revealed in a cable published by WikiLeaks. On January 20 Layas informed the U.S. ambassador in Tripoli that LIA had deposited $32 billion in U.S. banks. Five weeks later, on February 28, the U.S. Treasury “froze” these accounts. According to official statements, this is "the largest sum ever blocked in the United States," which Washington held "in trust for the future of Libya." It will in fact serve as an injection of capital into the U.S. economy, which is more and more in debt. A few days later, the EU "froze" around 45 billion Euros of Libyan funds.
The assault on the Libyan sovereign wealth funds will have a particularly strong impact in Africa. There, the Libyan Arab African Investment Company had invested in over 25 countries, 22 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, and was planning to increase the investments over the next five years, especially in mining, manufacturing, tourism and telecommunications. The Libyan investments have been crucial in the implementation of the first telecommunications satellite Rascom (Regional African Satellite Communications Organization), which entered into orbit in August 2010, allowing African countries to begin to become independent from the U.S. and European satellite networks, with an annual savings of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even more important were the Libyan investment in the implementation of three financial institutions launched by the African Union: the African Investment Bank, based in Tripoli, the African Monetary Fund, based in Yaoundé (Cameroon), the African Central Bank, with Based in Abuja (Nigeria). The development of these bodies would enable African countries to escape the control of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, tools of neo-colonial domination, and would mark the end of the CFA franc, the currency that 14 former French colonies are forced to use. Freezing Libyan funds deals a strong blow to the entire project. The weapons used by "the willing" are not only those in the military action called “Unified Protector.”
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 6028 Location: East London
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:49 pm Post subject:
US Intervention in Syria - by Stephen Lendman
(but includes Libya):
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2011/04/114858.html _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Gadhafi's youngest son, grandkids killed in NATO attack
msnbc.com news services
updated 4/30/2011 10:30:30 PM ET
A picture taken during a guided government tour shows damage that the Libyan government said was caused by a coalition air strike at the Tripoli house of Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi, youngest son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Within striking distance from Ground Zero sits a smoldering international cauldron, the United "Abominations" as it were. Born to prevent wars, it froze in the face of disaster and stood silent while terrorization to hostage of the world
In a mire of hypocrisy, the U.N. ignores sex crimes by its "blue helmets", and enables terrorism; so in the end it's failed and the U.N. is where our
so-called friends get to stab us in the back and we pay 22% of their tab to host our
enemies here at home.
Ambassadors from countries enjoy otherwise known as a catastrophe, enjoy Diplomatic immunity living in Manhattan, while their children are turned into prostitutes It's a complete and utter disgrace, a blot on the face of humanity, and they get away with it.
Poverty in their kitchens
Held hostage by oil-for-food
Yet their own plates are full off the fat of their lands
There's no blood on their hands, right Kojo?
They promised to tell the truth
Without leaving a fingerprint,
They will lose the U.N. one way or another
The victim, I fear will be us, sisters and brothers
The U.N. is right; you can't be any more "un"
Than you are right now, the U.N. is undone
Another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun
The threat is real, the Locust King has come
Don't tell me the truth; I don't like what they've done
It's payback time at the United Abominations
A grave and gathering danger
The decision to attack
Based on secret intelligence it'll take years
I fear to undo the failings in Iraq, Iran, and Korea
You may bury the bodies
But you can't bury the crimes only
Fools stand up and really lay down their arms
No, not me, not when Death lasts forever
The U.N. is right; you can't be any more "un"
Than you are right now, the U.N. is undone
Another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun
The threat is real, the Locust King has come
Don't tell me the truth; I don't like what they've done
It's payback time at the United Abominations
"The U.N. writes resolution after resolution and has become irrelevant through inaction and totalitarian paralysis,"
"Order, Order!!!"
"Ha! There is no such thing as order"
"Larry, it's true, reports confirm today that the United Nations has officially closed its doors forever,"
"Well, I just don't see what all the fuss is, because they don't do anything anyway, do they?"
The U.N. is right; you can't be any more "un"
Than you are right now, the U.N. is undone
Another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun
The threat is real, the Locust King has come
Don't tell me the truth; I don't like what they've done
It's payback time at the United Abominations
NATO invaded Yugoslavia to end ethnic cleansing, there was no U.N.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan after 9/11, there was no U.N.
Saddam Hussein violated 17 U.N. resolutions; The U.N. was asked to join the
war in Iraq. The U.S. invaded, Ha! there was no U.N.
Libya bombed a discotheque in Berlin killing Americans, there was no U.N.
Iran funds Hamas, and attacked the U.S. in the
seventies, there was no stinking U.N.
Facing War without end, looking into the future, there was no more U.N. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
The Libyan War, American Power and the Decline of the Petrodollar System
by Prof. Peter Dale Scott
Global Research, April 29, 2011
The Asia-Pacific Journal
The present NATO campaign against Gaddafi in Libya has given rise to great confusion, both among those waging this ineffective campaign, and among those observing it. Many whose opinions I normally respect see this as a necessary war against a villain – though some choose to see Gaddafi as the villain, and others point to Obama.
My own take on this war, on the other hand, is that it is both ill-conceived and dangerous -- a threat to the interests of Libyans, Americans, the Middle East and conceivably the entire world. Beneath the professed concern about the safety of Libyan civilians lies a deeper concern that is barely acknowledged: the West’s defense of the present global petrodollar economy, now in decline..
The confusion in Washington, matched by the absence of discussion of an overriding strategic motive for American involvement, is symptomatic of the fact that the American century is ending, and ending in a way that is both predictable in the long run, and simultaneously erratic and out of control in its details.
Confusion in Washington and in NATO
With respect to Libya’s upheaval itself, opinions in Washington range from that of John McCain, who has allegedly called on NATO to provide “every apparent means of assistance, minus ground troops,” in overthrowing Gaddafi,1 to Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who has expressed deep concern about even passing out arms to a group of fighters we do not know well.2
We have seen the same confusion throughout the Middle East. In Egypt a coalition of non-governmental elements helped prepare for the nonviolent revolution in that country, while former US Ambassador Frank Wisner, Jr., flew to Egypt to persuade Mubarak to cling to power. Meanwhile in countries that used to be of major interest to the US, like Jordan and Yemen, it is hard to discern any coherent American policy at all.
In NATO too there is confusion that occasionally threatens to break into open discord. Of the 28 NATO members, only 14 are involved at all in the Libyan campaign, and only six are involved in the air war. Of these only three countries –the U.S., Britain, and France, are offering tactical air support to the rebels on the ground. When many NATO countries froze the bank accounts of Gaddafi and his immediate supporters, the US, in an unpublicized and dubious move, froze the entire $30 billion of Libyan government funds to which it has access. (Of this, more later.) Germany, the most powerful NATO nation after America, abstained on the UN Security Council resolution; and its foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, has since said, “We will not see a military solution, but a political solution.”3
Such chaos would have been unthinkable in the high period of US dominance. Obama appears paralyzed by the gap between his declared objective – the removal of Gaddafi from power – and the means available to him, given the nation’s costly involvement in two wars, and his domestic priorities.
To understand America’s and NATO’s confusion over Libya, one must look at other phenomena:
• Standard & Poor’s warning of an imminent downgrade of the U.S. credit rating
• the unprecedented rise in the price of gold to over $1500 an ounce
• the gridlock in American politics over federal and state deficits and what to do about them
In the midst of the Libyan challenge to what remains of American hegemony, and in part as a direct consequence of America’s confused strategy in Libya, the price of oil has hit $112 a barrel. This price increase threatens to slow or even reverse America’s faltering economic recovery, and demonstrates one of the many ways in which the Libyan war is not serving American national interests.
Confusion about Libya has been evident in Washington from the outset, particularly since Secretary of State Clinton advocated a no-fly policy, President Obama said he wanted it as an option, and Secretary of Defense Gates warned against it.4 The result has been a series of interim measures, during which Obama has justified a limited U.S. response by pointing to America’s demanding commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yet with a stalemate prevailing in Libya itself, a series of further gradual escalations are being contemplated, from the provision of arms, funds, and advisers to the rebels, to the introduction of mercenaries or even foreign troops. The American scenario begins to look more and morelike Vietnam, where the war also began modestly with the introduction of covert operators followed by military advisers.
I have to confess that on March 17 I myself was of two minds about UN Security Council 1973, which ostensibly established a no-fly zone in Libya for the protection of civilians. But since then it has become apparent that the threat to rebels from Gaddafi’s troops and rhetoric was in fact far less than was perceived at the time. To quote Prof. Alan J. Kuperman,
. . . President Barack Obama grossly exaggerated the humanitarian threat to justify military action in Libya. The president claimed that intervention was necessary to prevent a “bloodbath’’ in Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city and last rebel stronghold. But Human Rights Watch has released data on Misurata, the next-biggest city in Libya and scene of protracted fighting, revealing that Moammar Khadafy is not deliberately massacring civilians but rather narrowly targeting the armed rebels who fight against his government. Misurata’s population is roughly 400,000. In nearly two months of war, only 257 people — including combatants — have died there. Of the 949 wounded, only 22 — less than 3 percent — are women…. Nor did Khadafy ever threaten civilian massacre in Benghazi, as Obama alleged. The “no mercy’’ warning, of March 17, targeted rebels only, as reported by The New York Times, which noted that Libya’s leader promised amnesty for those “who throw their weapons away.’’ Khadafy even offered the rebels an escape route and open border to Egypt, to avoid a fight “to the bitter end.’’5
The record of ongoing US military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan suggests that we should expect a heavy human toll if the current stalemate in Libya either continues or escalates further.
The Role in this War of Oil and Financial Interests
In American War Machine, I wrote how
By a seemingly inevitable dialectic,… prosperity in some major states fostered expansion, and expansion in dominant states created increasing income disparity.6 In this process the dominant state itself was changed, as its public services were progressively impoverished, in order to strengthen security arrangements benefiting a few while oppressing many.7
Thus, for many years the foreign affairs of England in Asia came to be conducted in large part by the East India Company…. Similarly, the American company Aramco, representing a consortium of the oil majors Esso, Mobil, Socal, and Texaco, conducted its own foreign policy in Arabia, with private connections to the CIA and FBI.8…
In this way Britain and America inherited policies that, when adopted by the metropolitan states, became inimical to public order and safety.9
In the final stages of hegemonic power, one sees more and more naked intervention for narrow interests, abandoning earlier efforts towards creating stable international institutions. Consider the role of the conspiratorial Jameson Raid into the South African Boer Republic in late 1895, a raid, devised to further the economic interests of Cecil Rhodes, which helped to induce Britain’s Second Boer War.10 Or consider the Anglo-French conspiracy with Israel in 1956, in an absurd vain attempt to retain control of the Suez Canal.
Then consider the lobbying efforts of the oil majors as factors in the U.S. war in Vietnam (1961), Afghanistan (2001), and Iraq (2003).11 Although the role of oil companies in America’s Libyan involvement remains obscure, it is a virtual certainty that Cheney’s Energy Task Force Meetings discussed not just Iraq’s but Libya’s under-explored oil reserves, estimated to be around 41 billion barrels, or about a third of Iraq’s.12
Afterwards some in Washington expected a swift victory in Iraq would be followed by similar US attacks on Libya and Iran. General Wesley Clark told Amy Goodman on Democracy Now four years ago that soon after 9/11 a general in the Pentagon informed him that several countries would be attacked by the U.S. military. The list included Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran.13 In May of 2003 John Gibson, chief executive of Halliburton's Energy Service Group, told International Oil Daily in an interview, “"We hope Iraq will be the first domino and that Libya and Iran will follow. We don't like being kept out of markets because it gives our competitors an unfair advantage,"14
It is also a matter of public record that the UN no-fly resolution 1973 of March 17 followed shortly on Gaddafi’s public threat of March 2 to throw western oil companies out of Libya, and his invitation on March 14 to Chinese, Russian, and Indian firms to produce Libyan oil in their place.15 Significantly China, Russia, and India (joined by their BRICS ally Brazil), all abstained on UN Resolution 1973.
The issue of oil is closely intertwined with that of the dollar, because the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency depends largely on OPEC’s decision to denominate the dollar as the currency for OPEC oil purchases. Today’s petrodollar economy dates back to two secret agreements with the Saudisin the 1970s for the recycling of petrodollars back into the US economy. The first of these deals assured a special and on-going Saudi stake in the health of the US dollar; the second secured continuing Saudi support for the pricing of all OPEC oil in dollars. These two deals assured that the US economy would not be impoverished by OPEC oil price hikes. Since then the heaviest burden has been borne instead by the economies of less developed countries, who need to purchase dollars for their oil supplies.16
As Ellen Brown has pointed out, first Iraq and then Libya decided to challenge the petrodollar system and stop selling all their oil for dollars, shortly before each country was attacked.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr., writing on Examiner.com, noted that "[s]ix months before the US moved into Iraq to take down Saddam Hussein, the oil nation had made the move to accept Euros instead of dollars for oil, and this became a threat to the global dominance of the dollar as the reserve currency, and its dominion as the petrodollar.."
According to a Russian article titled "Bombing of Lybia - Punishment for Qaddafi for His Attempt to Refuse US Dollar," Qaddafi made a similarly bold move: he initiated a movement to refuse the dollar and the euro, and called on Arab and African nations to use a new currency instead, the gold dinar. Qaddafi suggested establishing a united African continent, with its 200 million people using this single currency. … The initiative was viewed negatively by the USA and the European Union, with French president Nicolas Sarkozy calling Libya a threat to the financial security of mankind; but Qaddafi continued his push for the creation of a united Africa.
And that brings us back to the puzzle of the Libyan central bank. In an article posted on the Market Oracle, Eric Encina observed:
One seldom mentioned fact by western politicians and media pundits: the Central Bank of Libya is 100% State Owned.... Currently, the Libyan government creates its own money, the Libyan Dinar, through the facilities of its own central bank. Few can argue that Libya is a sovereign nation with its own great resources, able to sustain its own economic destiny. One major problem for globalist banking cartels is that in order to do business with Libya, they must go through the Libyan Central Bank and its national currency, a place where they have absolutely zero dominion or power-broking ability. Hence, taking down the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) may not appear in the speeches of Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy but this is certainly at the top of the globalist agenda for absorbing Libya into its hive of compliant nations.17
Libya not only has oil. According to the IMF, its central bank has nearly 144 tons of gold in its vaults. With that sort of asset base, who needs the BIS [Bank of International Settlements], the IMF and their rules.18
Gaddafi’s recent proposal to introduce a gold dinar for Africa revives the notion of an Islamic gold dinar floated in 2003 by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, as well as by some Islamist movements.19 The notion, which contravenes IMF rules and is designed to bypass them, has had trouble getting started. But today the countries stocking more and more gold rather than dollars include not just Libya and Iran, but also China, Russia, and India.20
The Stake of France in Terminating Gaddafi’s African Initiatives
The initiative for the air attacks appears to have come initially from France, with early support from Britain. If Qaddafi were to succeed in creating an African Union backed by Libya’s currency and gold reserves, France, still the predominant economic power in most of its former Central African colonies, would be the chief loser. Indeed, a report from Dennis Kucinich in America has corroborated the claim of Franco Bechis in Italy, transmitted by VoltaireNet in France, that “plans to spark the Benghazi rebellion were initiated by French intelligence services in November 2010.”21
If the idea to attack Libya originated with France, Obama moved swiftly to support French plans to frustrate Gaddafi’s African initiative with his unilateral declaration of a national emergency in order to freeze all of the Bank of Libya’s $30 billion of funds to which America had access. (This was misleadingly reported in the U.S. press as a freeze of the funds of “Colonel Qaddafi, his children and family, and senior members of the Libyan government.”22 But in fact the second section of Obama’s decree explicitly targeted “All property and interests… of the Government of Libya, its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities, and the Central Bank of Libya.”23) While the U.S. has actively used financial weapons in recent years, the $30-billion seizure, “the largest amount ever to be frozen by a U.S. sanctions order,” had one precedent, the arguably illegal and certainly conspiratorial seizure of Iranian assets in 1979 on behalf of the threatened Chase Manhattan Bank.24
The consequences of the $30-billion freeze for Africa, as well as for Libya, have been spelled out by an African observer:
The US$30 billion frozen by Mr Obama belong to the Libyan Central Bank and had been earmarked as the Libyan contribution to three key projects which would add the finishing touches to the African federation – the African Investment Bank in Syrte, Libya, the establishment in 2011 of the African Monetary Fund to be based in Yaounde with a US$42 billion capital fund and the Abuja-based African Central Bank in Nigeria which when it starts printing African money will ring the death knell for the CFA franc through which Paris has been able to maintain its hold on some African countries for the last fifty years. It is easy to understand the French wrath against Gaddafi.25
This same observer spells out her reasons for believing that Gaddafi’s plans for Africa have been more benign than the West’s:
It began in 1992, when 45 African nations established RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication Organization) so that Africa would have its own satellite and slash communication costs in the continent. This was a time when phone calls to and from Africa were the most expensive in the world because of the annual US$500 million fee pocketed by Europe for the use of its satellites like Intelsat for phone conversations, including those within the same country.
An African satellite only cost a onetime payment of US$400 million and the continent no longer had to pay a US$500 million annual lease. Which banker wouldn’t finance such a project? But the problem remained – how can slaves, seeking to free themselves from their master’s exploitation ask the master’s help to achieve that freedom? Not surprisingly, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the USA, Europe only made vague promises for 14 years. Gaddafi put an end to these futile pleas to the western ‘benefactors’ with their exorbitant interest rates. The Libyan guide put US$300 million on the table; the African Development Bank added US$50 million more and the West African Development Bank a further US$27 million – and that’s how Africa got its first communications satellite on 26 December 2007.26
I am not in a position to corroborate all of her claims. But, for these and other reasons, I am persuaded that western actions in Libya have been designed to frustrate Gaddafi’s plans for an authentically post-colonial Africa, not just his threatened actions against the rebels in Benghazi.
Conclusion
I conclude from all this confusion and misrepresentation that America is losing its ability to enforce and maintain peace, either by itself or with its nominal allies. I would submit that, if only to stabilize and reduce oil prices, it is in America’s best interest now to join with Ban Ki-Moon and the Pope in pressing for an immediate cease-fire in Libya. Negotiating a cease-fire will certainly present problems, but the probable alternative to ending this conflict is the nightmare of watching it inexorably escalate.America has been there before with tragic consequences. We do not want to see similar casualties incurred for the sake of anunjust petrodollar system whose days may be numbered anyway.
At stake is not just America’s relation to Libya, but to China. The whole of Africa is an area where the west and the BRIC countries will both be investing. A resource-hungry China alone is expected to invest on a scale of $50 billion a year by 2015, a figure (funded by America’s trade deficit with China) which the West cannot match.27 Whether east and west can coexist peacefully in Africa in the future will depend on the west’s learning to accept a gradual diminution of its influence there, without resorting to deceitful stratagems (reminiscent of the Anglo-French Suez stratagem of 1956) in order to maintain it.
Previous transitions of global dominance have been marked by wars, by revolutions, or by both together. The final emergence through two World Wars of American hegemony over British hegemony was a transition between two powers that were essentially allied, and culturally close. The whole world has an immense stake in ensuring that the difficult transition to a post-US hegemonic order will be achieved as peacefully as possible.
Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and English Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of Drugs Oil and War, The Road to 9/11, The War Conspiracy: JFK, 9/11, and the Deep Politics of War. His most recent book is American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection and the Road to Afghanistan. He is currently Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). This article is published in partnership with the Asia Pacific Journal.
His website, which contains a wealth of his writings, is here.
Notes
1 “McCain calls for stronger NATO campaign,” monstersandcritics.com, April 22, 2011, link.
2 Ed Hornick, “Arming Libyan Rebels: Should U.S. Do It?” CNN, March 31, 2011.
3 “Countries Agree to Try to Transfer Some of Qaddafi’s Assets to Libyan Rebels,” New York Times, April 13, 2011, link.
4 “President Obama Wants Options as Pentagon Issues Warnings About Libyan No-Fly Zone,” ABC News, March 3, 2011, link. Earlier, on February 25, Gates warned that the U.S. should avoid future land wars like those it has fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, but should not forget the difficult lessons it has learned from those conflicts.
"In my opinion, any future Defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it," Gates said in a speech to cadets at West Point” (Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2011, link).
5 Alan J. Kuperman, “False Pretense for War in Libya?” Boston Globe, April 14, 2011.
6 America’s income disparity, as measured by its Gini coefficient, is now among the highest in the world, along with Brazil, Mexico, and China. See Phillips, Wealth and Democracy, 38, 103; Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse (New York: Dutton, 2006), 159.
7 This is the subject of my book The Road to 9/11, 4–9.
8 Anthony Cave Brown, Oil, God, and Gold (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), 213.
9 Peter Dale Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010), 32. One could cite also the experience of the French Third Republic and the Banque de l’Indochine or the Netherlands and the Dutch East India Company.
10 Elizabeth Longford, Jameson’s Raid: The Prelude to the Boer War (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982); The Jameson Raid: a centennial retrospective (Houghton, South Africa: Brenthurst Press, 1996).
11 Wikileak documents from October and November 2002 reveal that Washington was making deals with oil companies prior to the Iraq invasion, and that the British government lobbied on behalf of BP’s being included in the deals (Paul Bignell, “Secret memos expose link between oil firms and invasion of Iraq,” Independent (London), April 19, 2011).
12 Reuters, March 23, 2011.
13 Saman Mohammadi, “The Humanitarian Empire May Strike Syria Next, Followed By Lebanon And Iran,” OpEdNews.com, March 31, 2011.
14 "Halliburton Eager for Work Across the Mideast," International Oil Daily, May 7, 2003.
15 “Gaddafi offers Libyan oil production to India, Russia, China,” Agence France-Presse, March 14, 2011, link.
16 Peter Dale Scott, “Bush’s Deep Reasons for War on Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars, and the OPEC Euro Question”; Peter Dale Scott, Drugs, Oil, and War (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), 41-42: “From these developments emerged the twin phenomena, underlying 9/11, of triumphalist US unilateralism on the one hand, and global third-world indebtedness on the other. The secret deals increased US-Saudi interdependence at the expense of the international comity which had been the base for US prosperity since World War II.” Cf. Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 37.
17 "Globalists Target 100% State Owned Central Bank of Libya." Link.
18 Ellen Brown, “Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking,” Reader Supported News, April 15, 2011.
19 Peter Dale Scott, “Bush’s Deep Reasons for War on Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars, and the OPEC Euro Question”; citing “Islamic Gold Dinar Will Minimize Dependency on US Dollar,” Malaysian Times, April 19, 2003.
20 “Gold key to financing Gaddafi struggle,” Financial Times, March 21, 2011, link.
21 Franco Bechis, “French plans to topple Gaddafi on track since last November,” VoltaireNet, March 25, 2011. Cf. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, “November 2010 War Games: ‘Southern Mistral’ Air Attack against Dictatorship in a Fictitious Country called ‘Southland,’" Global Research, April 15, 2011, link; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 19, 2011.
22 New York Times, February 27, 2011.
23 Executive Order of February 25, 2011, citing International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, seizes all Libyan Govt assets, February 25, 2011, link. The authority granted to the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act “may only be exercised to deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared for purposes of this chapter and may not be exercised for any other purpose” (50 U.S.C. 1701).
24 “Billions Of Libyan Assets Frozen,” Tropic Post, March 8, 2011, link (“largest amount”); Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007), 80-89 (Iranian assets).
25 “Letter from an African Woman, Not Libyan, On Qaddafi Contribution to Continent-wide African Progress , Oggetto: ASSOCIAZIONE CASA AFRICA LA LIBIA DI GHEDDAFI HA OFFERTO A TUTTA L'AFRICA LA PRIMA RIVOLUZIONE DEI TEMPI MODERNI,” Vermont Commons, April 21, 2011, link. Cf. Manlio Dinucci, “Financial Heist of the Century: Confiscating Libya's Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF),” Global Research, April 24, 2011, link.
26 Ibid. Cf. “The Inauguration of the African Satellite Control Center,” Libya Times, September 28, 2009, link; Jean-Paul Pougala, “The lies behind the West's war on Libya,” Pambazuka.org, April 14, 2011.
27 Leslie Hook, “China’s future in Africa, after Libya,” blogs.ft.com, March 4, 2011 ($50 billion). The U.S trade deficit with China in 2010 was $273 billion.
Peter Dale Scott is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Peter Dale Scott
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18032 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 10:42 pm Post subject:
Ever heard of the 30,000lbs of TNT Massive Ordnance Penetrator 'MOP', a new bunker buster designed by USA, to penetrate Iran's missile silos , or reinforced concrete shields…
If I am not mistaken the picture of the recent attack on Gaddafi's house looks as if it was hit by one of these. They have an incredible mass density ratio designed to punch through layers of reinforced concrete before they then explode.
Cuba strongly condemned the killing of the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) to seek a "regime change and control of Libya’s oil resources."
The Cuban Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate ceasefire and respect for the sovereignty of the Libyan nation, while condemning such criminal acts through an official communiqué published on its website.
On Saturday night, the Libyan government spokesman Ibrahim Musa announced that the house of Saif al Arab(29) one of Gaddafi's six sons was "attacked with powerful weaponry" killing Gaddafi's son and three grandchildren.
NATO "manipulated and violated the resolution 1973 which imposed, lacking all legitimacy, the Security Council of United Nations under the pretext of protecting civilian lives. It is clear that the main objective of the Alliance is to establish its control over Libya’s vast oil resources, stated the official document. (Cubaminrex-RHC)
Norwegian page claiming Norwegian fighters Bombed the house
Norske fly bombet Gaddafis hus
04. mai 2011by Folkets Info http://www.folkets.info/2011/norske-fly-bombet-gaddafis-hus/
[Translate]
".... The U.S. government will find the reasons for any action to be taken against Libya. This seems to be the case so far with regard to Lockerbie. In 1986, the U.S. killing of Libyan women and children, and destroyed the houses of the Libyan people, so that the families of the children now want to take revenge against America. And because the Libyans do not have the wherewithal to actually do it (revenge), allows U.S. intelligence, and Libya is blamed. America has such a justification to impose sanctions against Libya. It seems that this is the scenario. "- Muammar Gadaffi in an interview with FinalCall.com on 18 November, 1999.
See also these cases:
- The truth about Libya .
- The Army can only defend one Oslo district .
- The war against Libya: a threat to Norway .
Taken from ABC News 04/05/2011:
Defense Minister Grete Faremo (Labor) said that Norway bombs "especially complex targets" in Libya. According to anonymous sources, the Norwegian aircraft bombed the residence of Muammar Gaddafi.
Sources connected to and in the Norwegian fighter departments says to Aftenposten that it was the Norwegian F-16 planes last week bombed Muammar Gaddafi's residence.
- Yes, it was us who did it, "the sources said.
Norwegian aircraft was on a mission last weekend, but defense sources denied that there were bombs from Norwegian aircraft that destroyed the building where Gaddafi's son Saif al-Arab stayed.
His son and several children have been killed in this attack.
- Norway has flown 275 missions from 1950 aimed to take out ground targets in Libya, Faremo writes in an article in Aftenposten on Wednesday.
The same keyword or category including:
Norway bombs mostly in Libya
Should we participate in yet another illegitimate war?
100 "Norwegian" bombs on Libya
EU will not talk - and now we're going out of the EEA!
Now he gets Founding-trouble _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Gaddafi gold-for-oil, dollar-doom plans behind Libya 'mission'? _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
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